Hill Heat: Democratic House Likely To Rekindle ExxonKnew Investigationshttp://www.hillheat.com/articles/2018/12/13/democratic-house-likely-to-rekindle-exxonknew-investigations
en-us40Science Policy Legislation ActionDemocratic House Likely To Rekindle ExxonKnew Investigations<p><img src='/files/ExxonKnew.png' style='float:right;margin-left:10px;width:40%' />With both houses of Congress under a Republican majority, investigating the malfeasance of the oil industry has not been a priority. Instead, Republicans have held <a href='https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/oil-backed-lawmakers-hold-unusual-hearing-behalf-exxon'>hearings investigating the officials who are investigating the oil industry</a>.</p>
<p>However, with the House moving to Democratic control, Congressional oversight will become a renewed priority. That primarily involves overseeing the work of the Executive Branch, but also includes corporate behavior of national interest.</p>
<p>The “ExxonKnew” controversy is the evidence that Exxon and other oil majors knew for decades that their products cause dangerous global warming but decided to run a disinformation and political interference campaign to avoid regulation of their pollution.</p>
<p>A leading Congressman in calling for investigation is Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) who repeatedly <a href='https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/congress-should-ask-what-exxon-knew-about-climate-change'>called for Congressional investigations</a> in 2016. However, he is not currently on the committees with jurisdiction (that could change in the new year).</p>
<p>Another is Rep. <a href='https://huffman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-huffman-lofgren-lieu-desaulnier-ca-members-urge-attorney-general'>Jared Huffman</a> (D-Calif.), a former attorney for <span class="caps">NRDC</span>, who sits on the Natural Resources Committee and Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, both of which potentially have oversight jurisdiction.</p>
<p>Another potential leader on this is Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), the incoming chair of the Science Oversight subcommittee, who has <a href='https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=356'>spoken out in support of actions by state attorneys general to investigate Exxon</a>.</p>Thu, 13 Dec 2018 14:05:00 -0500urn:uuid:a5c23998-1f11-400f-ab65-25df4931b5abBrad Johnsonhttp://www.hillheat.com/articles/2018/12/13/democratic-house-likely-to-rekindle-exxonknew-investigations
PolicyActionExxonTed LieuDon BeyerJared Huffman